Balbalan, Kalinga

Balbalan is a third class municipality in the province of Kalinga, Philippines. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 12,082 people.

History

[Note: The historical note is taken from an article by Scott Magkachi Saboy]

Early beginning

This town draws its name from an ancient practice. It was said that war parties coming from certain areas in northern Kalinga (probably, the ancient place of Salegseg) used to meet by a creek when mapping out their plan of attack against or when regrouping after attacking a certain village. Since they would always wash (balbal, in the local dialect) their blood-stained bodies and weapons in the creek, the place and its adjacent areas came to be known as Balbalan. Since its tribal war days, Balbalan has become one of the most peaceful place in Kalinga as dramatized by the selection of one of its ethnic sub-groups, the Salegseg.

Spanish Era: At the Edge of the World

The Spaniards made at least 10 incursions into the land of the Kalingas from the early 1600s to the late 1800s, four of which were made from the west (Abra) primarily targeting the regions of Banao and Guinaang. Although they succeeded around the mid-1800s in establishing a telegraph station in Balbalasang (where, incidentally, they appointed the noted Banao leader Juan Puyao as a gobernadorcillo or councillor) and subsequently hacking out an Ilocos-Abra-Kalinga-Cagayan trail, they failed to establish a total politico-military foothold in Kalinga.

Kalinga

Kalinga may refer to:

See also

Kalinga (province)

Kalinga (Ilocano: Probinsya ti Kalinga and Filipino: Lalawigan ng Kalinga), Tagalog pronunciation: [kɐˈliŋɐ]) is a landlocked province in the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region of Luzon.

Its capital is Tabuk and borders Mountain Province to the south, Abra to the west, Isabela to the east, Cagayan to the northeast, and Apayao to the north.

Kalinga and Apayao are the result of the 1995 partitioning of the former province of Kalinga-Apayao; which was seen as a way to better service the respective needs of the various indigenous peoples in the area.

Geography

The topography of Kalinga province is rugged and sloping, with mountain peaks ranging from 1,500 to 2,500 metres (4,900 to 8,200 ft) in elevation. The province’s western side is characterised by sharp, crested, interlinking peaks of steep slopes, isolated flatlands, plateaus and valleys. The eastern lands are mainly of rolling and gradually sloping foothills.

Large swaths of the province's lowlands are open grassland suitable for pasture, while the highlands have extensive areas of tropical rainforest. In higher elevations to the west, particularly in the mountains of Balbalan, lie some of the most intact pine forests of Luzon island. Rizal and Tabuk with their flatlands are the biggest rice producers. Next in rice production are the mountainous area, and of note are the rice terraces of Balbalan, Lubuagan, Pasil, Pinukpuk, Tinglayan, and Tanudan.

Kalinga (India)

Kalinga was an early republic in central East India that comprised almost whole Odisha and also some parts of Andhra Pradesh and Chattisgarh. It was a rich and fertile land that extended from the Damodar River/Ganges to the Godavari River and from Bay of Bengal to the Amarkantak range in the west. The region was scene of the bloody Kalinga War fought by Ashoka of the Maurya Empire approximately 265 BCE.

History

The core area of the historical Kalinga now forms the sea shore of Orissa and Andhra region of Andhra Pradesh, up to river Godavari state in India.

Kalinga is mentioned as "Calingae" in Megasthenes' Indica:

The Kalinga alphabet derived from Brahmi was used for writing.

Kalinga was a powerful kingdom during the Mauryan era. The kingdom fell when emperor Ashoka led a war against the republic, leading to its bloody defeat in the Kalinga War. It seems to have gained independence soon by the time of king Kharavela.

Pre-Mauryan

Mahapadma Nanda the ruler of Magadha is presumed to have conquered Kalinga during his reign around c. 350 BCE. The Hathigumpha inscriptions mentions the suzerainty of the Nandas in the Kalinga region. The inscriptions also mention irrigation projects undertaken by the Nanda kings in the state during their reign.